Buenas Tardes!
Wow, there has been a lot going on and I don't think I've ever been so incredibly excited for General Conference before!! We've been talking about it with everyone and really working on getting investigators to watch or listen to it. There's no better way people will be able to feel the Spirit than watching apostles and a prophet of the Lord testify of the truthfulness of the Gospel and the divinity of the Savior.
So the baptism we had on Saturday was awesome, and Maria is so happy to be a member. The members here have really welcomed her in and she is loving it. She got baptized with her friend's little daughter so it was really cool to see the two of them taking this step together. What was way cool was that when we were taking pictures afterwards she kept talking about us being her missionaries and that she would always remember us. That's something that's super special and that makes me so glad I'm here! I had the opportunity to confirm her on Sunday, and although it was a little nerve-racking at first it went really well and I didn't struggle with the words. It's a little tough because we normally talk to people in the "usted" form to be formal and respectful, but we used the "tu" form in baptisms and confirmations and such for closeness and familiarity. But it was great, and investigators were surprised that I was able to do what I did without having it written down. So that's a good sign, right? We had 2 more confirmations there and there were quite a few people at Church. What was awesome was seeing Cesar's entire family at Church, all dressed up and loving being together there as a family. The mom couldn't come to Church until she had a really nice outfit so they were all spiffed up, with the guys in suits and the girls in nice dresses. Speaking of their family, Rene and Nathalie are getting baptized this Friday!! They couldn't wait any longer so we set it up and ordained Cesar a Priest last night so he would be able to baptize his sister. We were hoping the parents would maybe get baptized this weekend or next, but it looks like it might be the 16th or something. The good thing is that I had never heard them so positive about being baptized! They love what the Church has done for their kids and they know they are going to go as a family together to this one, but she wants to be more familiar with it and go to Church 1-2 more times. Cesar Sr. said he was going to get baptized when his wife does and she says she knows she is going to get baptized, but it's just a matter of time.
One thing that was also sweet was that on Sunday we joined another set of elders here in fasting for their investigators. We prayed and fasted specifically for them, and then the Lord definitely answered and the very next day, one of them called the elders up and said she wanted to get baptized ASAP!!! Last transfer they had a baptism set up for this investigator and she just didn't show up, calling later to say she wasn't coming - saying she felt nervous and took it as a sign to not get baptized. But she got baptized last night and it definitely strengthened our testimony of fasting, and we know that it was because of that that it happened.
It's been kind of tough lately to find new investigators as we're getting people ready for baptism. We're busy with appointments and setting all these things up, and we really need to spend more time finding new people to teach. Cesar brought over some friends to Church and it looks like we'll be able to start teaching them this week! They loved Church and said they wanted to come back! That's one of the hardest things to get people to do, so we get way excited when people go to Church and want to keep going.
It's also different having twice the missionaries in our branch but I like it a lot. We go to dinners together and there's definitely enough work to keep all of us busy. They've been finding all kinds of new people to teach and it's cool to just see them on fire, going out and doing lots of finding to teach. It's also nice not being the youngest one here - I'm the oldest greenie in Yuma out of like 5 here, and it's kind of crazy that we have so many new missionaries down here! I guess it's the best way to get missionaries introduced to Spanish though. Elder Matheson and Elder Lindquist here with us are super good missionaries and we work together a lot so it's nice not having quite as big of an area.
It looks like the next couple of days I'm going to be with the other 2 elders since my companion is going to training in Tempe. Teaching is a lot of fun, and it's always exciting to go out and teach with different people to see how they do it and get to know the different people they are teaching. I'm excited!!
Shoot, well I think that's about all that's really happened this week. I'm excited for the baptisms Friday and for General Conference, so it's going to be a SWEET weekend!!
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